Latest KFF Health News Stories
Handle With Care: Helping Seniors Move On
Robert Ray of Silver Spring is in the business of helping the elderly move. He’s president of Caring Transitions in Silver Spring, a company that manages everything from packing boxes to finding a real estate agent.
Today’s Headlines – March 1, 2012
Good morning! Here are your morning headlines: The New York Times: Political Memo: Candidates Scramble To Create Differences Mr. Romney and Mr. Santorum both support the repeal of President Obama’s national health care law. Mr. Santorum has criticized Mr. Romney for creating the Massachusetts plan that served as the federal model. Mr. Romney, meanwhile, recently […]
The High Price Of Caring For A Loved One With Alzheimer’s
Nearly 15 million people fall into the role of unpaid caregiver for those sick with dementia. Add it all up, and it comes to about 17 billion hours of unpaid care valued at $202 billion in 2010 alone. New money from the Obama Administration in the 2013 budget is intended to help.
Poll: Most Americans Support Contraception Rule
Republicans may still take heat over Medicare proposals, survey also finds.
Wash. Senate Nears Vote To Require Abortion Coverage
While lawmakers in Washington clash over birth control, lawmakers in Washington state are close to passing a first-of-its-kind law that would require insurers to cover abortion services. If passed, the Reproductive Parity Act would make the Evergreen State the first in the country to require public and private insurers to cover abortion if the plan covers […]
Today’s Headlines – Feb. 29, 2012
Good morning! Half way through the week! Here are your morning headlines: Politico: Who’s Health Care’s Key SCOTUS Vote? Administration lawyers have peppered their briefs with citations to opinions written by Anthony Kennedy and Antonin Scalia, they’ve seized on the arguments made by one of Scalia’s most beloved former clerks and their allies in legal […]
In Victory And Defeat, Romney And Santorum Bash Health Law
GOP presidential candidates Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum struck out at the Democrats’ health law in speeches Tuesday night after Romney won both the Arizona and Michigan GOP primaries.
Maine’s Top Court Backs State Authority To Limit Health Plan’s Profits
In a case closely watched by the insurance industry, Maine’s top court Tuesday upheld state regulators’ authority to hold down rate increases sought by Anthem Health Plans of Maine. In its ruling, the Supreme Judicial Court said that Maine’s insurance superintendent had “properly balanced the competing interests” in arriving at an approved rate increase of […]
More Americans Head To The ER For Dental Emergencies
Americans who turn up in the emergency room to get dental care aren’t lost, they’re probably just running out of options. According to a new report from the Pew Center on the States, more than 800,000 visits to the ER in 2009 were for toothaches and other avoidable dental ailments. “People showing up at emergency […]
Medicare Spends Less Than Private Insurers On Knee Replacements
Study finds that’s mostly because the government pays far lower rates for hospital care
House Republicans Pound Sebelius On Health Law
Mary Agnes Carey talks with Jackie Judd about HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius’ appearance before the House Ways and Means Committee. She defended the health care law and the president’s fiscal 2013 budget request. The hearing had all the hallmarks of a partisan political event.
Today’s Headlines – February 28, 2012
Good morning! Here are your early-morning headlines: The New York Times: At-Risk Patients Gain Attention Of Health Insurers One percent of patients account for more than 25 percent of health care spending among the privately insured, according to a new study. Their medical bills average nearly $100,000 a year for multiple hospital stays, doctors’ visits, […]
Pediatricians Recommend HPV Vaccination For Boys
The leading group of U.S. pediatricians says it’s now time for boys, as well as girls, to be vaccinated against human papillomavirus. The American Academy of Pediatrics has updated its guidance to parents and doctors in favor of routine immunization for boys against the virus. Previously, the group had said it was OK to vaccinate […]
Insurers Open Stores To Peddle Health Plans
With more people buying insurance on their own, and even more slated to because of the health law, insurers are seeking a retail strategy.
Today’s Headlines – February 27, 2012
Good morning! Get your week started with these headlines: The New York Times: A Measure Of Change: Obama’s Deficit Dilemma Yet starting with that April speech, Mr. Obama has come to adopt most of the major tenets supported by a majority of the commission’s members, though his proposals do not go as far. He has […]
By The Numbers: Wisconsin’s High Risk Pool
This week the federal government touted the number of people who have enrolled in the high risk insurance pools created in every state. After a slow start, some 50,000 people with serious illnesses nationwide have signed up for the insurance plans created by the federal health law. But in Wisconsin and elsewhere that statistic doesn’t […]
Q&A: I Was Billed, But Aren’t Colonoscopies Free Under The Health Law?
Michelle Andrews answers a question from a reader who had a colonoscopy and was billed a 30 percent co-pay. The reader asks: Aren’t preventive services like that free under the health law?
Five Questions About The Health Law’s Mandate To Cover Birth Control
While controversy over one aspect of the Obama administration’s contraception rule
Electronic Health Records Program Advances to ‘Stage 2’
It’s time to take electronic health records to the next level. Federal officials on Thursday released their second-stage guidelines for “meaningful use” of electronic records, which advocates say have the potential to reduce medical errors and streamline care. The proposed rules require doctors and hospitals to significantly step up their usage, as well as better […]
Today’s Headlines – February 24, 2012
Happy Friday, world! Here are your headlines: Los Angeles Times: Debt Would Grow Under Most GOP Candidates’ Plans, Report Says The sober analysis shows how difficult it will be for any new inhabitant in the White House to shift the nation’s debt trajectory, and the need for long-term and bipartisan efforts to gain revenues and […]